Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay
Por Fran Lu — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Trending in China People & Culture Trending in China Artworks reveal Chinese rulers and Cixi loved role-playing long before modern cosplay
What Emperor Qianlong did with his court painters is the 18th century equivalent of digital photo manipulation and Photoshop
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Fran Lu in Beijing Published: 10:00am, 23 Sep 2026
The Qing dynasty’s Empress Dowager Cixi is renowned as a cosplay enthusiast, leaving behind photographs and paintings of herself embodying the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. However, she was not the first to engage in such role-playing while on the throne.
Long before Cixi (1835–1908), the Qing dynasty’s emperors Yongzheng (1678–1735) and his son, Qianlong (1711–1799), indulged in role-playing, as evidenced in numerous paintings.
Yongzheng, whose reign lasted 13 years, was known as a strict and relentless workaholic. Thus, the contrast of his playful side revealed in the role-playing paintings often surprised many.
He left behind two albums titled The Album of the Yongzheng Emperor in Costumes, each featuring paintings of him portraying various characters, including a Taoist priest, a Buddhist lama, a Han intellectual, a peasant, and even a European figure.
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